BIRMINGHAM’S Labour leader Sir Albert Bore has admitted giving up on his 12-year dream of becoming the city’s first elected mayor because of the party’s strict campaign timetable.

Coun Bore who led the city council between 1999 and 2004, has been a long-standing advocate of city mayors and last year put himself forward for the position should the people vote yes in the mayoral referendum on May 3.

But the Labour Party’s decision to start its selection process on May 5 has forced Sir Albert, he says, to take a step back – not least because he fully expects to be busy taking over leadership of the City Council from the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition.

Instead he has thrown his weight behind former Cabinet minister and Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne and will be deputy mayor should Byrne win.

The duo make a formidable team and have the backing of several influential councillors who can call on considerable support among the local party membership.

Sir Albert, a councillor for Ladywood since 1980, said that he came to the decision to withdraw about a week ago as he was putting the finishing touches to the Labour Party’s local election manifesto.

“On May 5 I will be putting together a Labour administration to run Birmingham City Council and I realised that I will not be able to do that while running a mayoral campaign.”

Sir Albert, also the chairman of the University Hospital Trust for three days a week, has previously stated that he would not stand down to campaign for mayor.

But he said that after working well on the Labour Manifesto with Mr Byrne that they would be ideally suited. That local election manifesto has also been created as a ‘bedrock’ on which the mayoral manifesto will be developed.

They also combine support from parts of the Birmingham Labour Party which puts them in a good place to win the nomination and were backed by an impressive number of councillors and party members at their official launch.

Their competition for the Labour candidacy comes from Edgbaston MP Gisela Stuart and Sion Simon, who has built up a head of steam campaigning since resigning as Erdington MP in 2010. If the referendum votes yes on May 3 the mayoral election will take place on November 15.

Mr Byrne told the Birmingham Mail yesterday that he had decided to campaign for Birmingham mayor and would stand down as MP if selected. The former Chief Secretary to the Treasury said it is a sign that the Birmingham Mayor job is as big as a Cabinet position.